Summer Olympics

Events

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A Reading AZ Level QLeveled Book

Word Count: 771

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Written by Terr y Miller Shannon

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Summer
Olympics Events

Written by Terry Miller Shannon

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Summer Olympics Events

Level Q Leveled Book
Learning AZ
Written by Terry Miller Shannon
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Correlation
LEVEL Q
Fountas & Pinnell
Reading Recovery
DRA

N
30
30

The Summer Olympic Games

The modern Summer Olympic Games
began over 100 years ago in 1894. They were
inspired by athletic competitions held in
ancient Greece. The Games are intended to
promote understanding and friendship
among people from all countries.

Table of Contents
The Summer Olympic Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
The Olympic Torch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

The Summer Olympics are held every four

years. Each Olympics is held in a different
city around the world. Athletes compete in
hundreds of events and try their best to win
gold, silver, or bronze medals for their
home countries.

Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Water Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Places where past games have been held:

Track and Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Munich

1972

Barcelona

1992

Gymnastics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Montreal

1976

Atlanta

1996

Fencing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Moscow

1980

Sydney

2000

Pentathlon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Los Angeles 1984

Athens

2004

Event Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Seoul

Beijing

2008

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Summer Olympic Events Level Q

1988

The Olympic flame remains lit throughout each Olympics.

Athletes walk in a parade at the start of the Games.

The Olympic Torch

The Summer Olympics start with an
opening ceremony. The ceremony usually
includes a parade of the participating athletes.
An important part of the ceremony is the
lighting of the Olympic flame by a person
carrying the Olympic torch.
Summer Olympic Events Level Q

The torch is lit in Greece several months

before the start of the games. It is then carried
to the host city by a series of runners. It arrives
at the Olympic stadium on the opening day of
the games. By this time, it has been handed off
from one runner to the next many times during
its long journey.
At the opening ceremony, the final runner
enters the stadium carrying the torch. He or she
uses it to light the Olympic flame. The Olympic
flame burns throughout the Olympics and is
not put out until the closing ceremony.
6

swimming

soccer

basketball

water polo
field hockey

volleyball

Water Sports

Events
The Summer Games include team sports
such as basketball, soccer, volleyball, and field
hockey. They also include many individual
events. Lets look at some of the events.
Summer Olympic Events Level Q

Water sports include water polo, diving,

and swimming competitions. Some of the
swimming races are short, and swimmers
swim only two lengths of the pool. Other
races are longer and sometimes include
more than one swimmer in a relay.
8

relay race

diving

breaststroke

backstroke

Divers twist and flip before hitting the water.

butterfly stroke

freestyle

Many swimming races allow swimmers to

use only one kind of stroke. But in the freestyle
event, swimmers can choose the stroke they
want to use. The breaststroke, backstroke, and
the butterfly are all used in different races.
Summer Olympic Events Level Q

In diving events, divers jump from high

above the water. Divers do complicated
twists, flips, and turns while in the air. They
get points for the difficulty of the dive and
how small a splash they make when they hit
the water.
10

Track and Field

Track and field events include running,
throwing, and jumping competitions. The
marathon, the longest running event, is over
42 kilometers (26 mi) long. The shortest races
are called dashes.
Summer Olympic Events Level Q

11

Runners often train for the Olympic

Games by running in locations high in the
mountains. This training helps their bodies
become better at delivering oxygen to their
muscles to create energy.
12

hammer throw

discus
high jump

shot put

In jumping
events, athletes are
judged on the height
or distance of their
jumps. In the high
jump, athletes leap
over a bar. The bar is
raised higher until
only one person can
jump it. In the long
long jump
jump, athletes leap
as far as they can. In the pole vault, athletes use
a pole to help them leap over a very high bar.

javelin

In throwing events, the objective is to

throw a hammer, discus, javelin, or shot
put as far as possible. Athletes competing
in these events must be very strong.
Summer Olympic Events Level Q

13

14

mens rings

fencing
womens balance beam

Fencing
mask and
sabers

Gymnastics

Fencing

Gymnasts leap, flip, and twirl through the

air. They demonstrate their timing, balance,
flexibility, strength, and skill. Only women
compete on the balance beam and in the
uneven bars events. In the balance beam
events, they must turn and flip on the narrow
beam. Only men compete in the rings,
pommel horse, and parallel bars events. In
the rings event, they hold onto the rings and
flip their bodies in circles.

Olympic fencers duel with practice swords.

They score points by touching their opponents
with their swords on different parts of the
body. Fencers wear protective masks and
clothing and use special swords so that the
competition is safe. Fencers are allowed to
move forward and backward as they fight,
but they can only move a little from side to
side. Fencers use three different kinds of
swords in their competitions.

Summer Olympic Events Level Q

15

16

The pentathlon is based on an imaginary

scenario of a soldier who is trapped behind
enemy lines. The athlete must ride a horse,
shoot targets with a pistol, fight with a sword,
run, and swim. The competitor with the best
total score in all five events wins. Both men
and women compete in the pentathlon.

Pentathlon
One event created specifically for the
Olympics is the pentathlon. The founder
of the modern Games, Baron Pierre de
Coubertin, created this event. He was inspired
by the pentathlon in the Ancient Olympics. The
name pentathlon comes from the Greek words
for five and contest.
Summer Olympic Events Level Q

17

Baron Pierre de Coubertin also designed the Olympic emblem

with five interlocking rings.

18

Glossary

Summer Olympic Sports

athletes (n.) people who play

sports (p. 4)

Archery

Modern Pentathlon

Badminton

Rowing

Baseball

Sailing

dashes (n.) short running events

(p. 11)

Basketball

Shooting

duel (v.)

Boxing

Softball

Canoe/Kayak

Table Tennis

gymnasts (n.) people who leap, flip, and

twirl through the air (p. 15)

Cycling

Taekwondo

Equestrian

Tennis

Fencing

Track and Field

Football

Triathlon

Gymnastics

Volleyball

Handball

Water sports

Field Hockey

Weightlifting

Judo

Wrestling

marathon (n.) a very long running

race (p. 11)
pentathlon (n.) an athletic competition that
involves five different
events (p. 17)
scenario (n.) a possible situation or
sequence of events (p. 17)

Index
De Coubertin,
Baron Pierre, 17
diving, 8, 10

Event Categories

fencing, 16

The Summer Olympics include twentyeight sports with hundreds of events. To

find out more about the Olympics, go to
www.olympic.org
Summer Olympic Events Level Q

to fight one-on-one (p. 16)

gymnasts, 15
jumping events, 14
marathon, 11
19

20

Olympic emblem, 18
Olympic flame, 5
Olympic torch, 5
pentathlon, 17, 18
rings, 15
stroke, 9